Changing thread titles

[ScottSA]

I applaude the moderator's attempt to keep things on an even keel, but it seems that the moderation is getting ever more intrusive. The immediate manifestation of this is the thread title "Hypocritic Liberals" being changed to "Liberal track record under Dion, native rights and the environment." Why? The reason given was "to avoid provoking an inflammatory or insulting discussion as well as to convey a more precise description of the topic."

As for the first reason, isn't this a political discussion board? If the post attracts insults and flames, isn't that something to be taken up with the flaming insulter rather than the title? The title insulted the Liberals, and the post supported the insult. The title didn't insult any posters on this board. Is the aim to create a milquetoast CBC type townhall discussion or to provoke lively debate?

To the second reason, turning the title into a table of contents may be precise, but is it strictly necessary? Besides, the topic is 'Liberal hypocrisy,' and the particulars of that hypocrisy are merely to support the charge, so isn't the title change actually wrong?

On a larger theme, isn't less moderation better than more? Do we really need to combine threads and change titles and do things at the very margins of need?

[geoffrey]

On a larger theme, isn't less moderation better than more? Do we really need to combine threads and change titles and do things at the very margins of need?

Yes. The level of conversation on this forum has degraded significantly since recent arrivals and I strongly welcome intervention in this regard. Personally, I'd like to see many banned. Changing thread titles to reasonable descriptions of the thread contents and merging the many duplicate threads is a good start, however.